Gallows Pole

When Led Zeppelin alumni Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were asked by MTV to do an episode of one of their Unplugged programmes (all the rage in the mid-1990s), one thing led to another, and soon enough, the pair made the decision to lay down some new material. The results that came out of these sessions (the wittily titled No Quarter: Unledded) was a wonder to hear: old but still-sturdy Led Zep standards completely revamped, reworked and given colourful, Arab-tinged treatments, and a selection of new numbers written and recorded in the same adventurous spirit. A particular highlight is their stomping take on the traditional execution song Gallows Pole, a raucous Celtic-meets-Marrakech knees-up, leavened with some head-spinning hurdy-gurdy riffs. Check out the energetic performance video here.